Freshman Carolyn Nyguen (above) posted the fastest butterfly split 27.33 to help power Northwood to a title in the 200 Medley Relay on Wednesday against the Portola High School Bulldogs.  Photo courtesy of Mitch Mallough.  

The Northwood Timberwolves swim team yielded two solid victories over the Portola Bulldogs on Wednesday, March 27, 2019 at the Northwood High School Aquatic Center.  

The emphasis surrounding Northwood's team has been as much about staying focused and as being prepared mentally.  The Timberwolves definitely proved that today against Portola as they came up big in the moment, and performed at a high level.

Northwood girl's squad took first in 9 of 11 events as the Lady T-Wolves secured their second dual meet win by a score of 106 to 64 over visiting Portola, accentuated by strong performances from a number of swimmers. 

Northwood's boys were firing on all cylinders as it prevailed in a 117 - 52 win, and the Timberwolves brought its best times of the season out winning 9 of 11 events on the day.

"The team really stepped up at this meet and each took it as their own individual, personal responsibility to race well," said Head Coach Alex Nieto. "By performing well individually, it made the team that much stronger."

In front of a capacity home crowd, there was an added emotional component as the Northwood seniors participated in being honored for their team dedication, and today's dual wins was the latest example of what they bring as student-athletes to the program.

Rest assured, Northwood fans can expect a straightforward, hotly contested meet on Wednesday, April 10th.  The Timberwolves will look to play spoiler to the Beckman Patriots and their undefeated status, should Irvine High School fail to dent Beckman' boys record this Friday.  Ready to Roll!

200 FREE

Northwood's Open Girls Mia Tomovic Savinov, Lauren Thorpe and Jana Hammoud fired off a triple win going 2:25.85, 2:36.53 and 2:58.13. Coming up big with their own triple win version was the Open Boys Bob Li (2:10.30), Andy Kim (2:12.33), and Nolan Kim (2:14.50).  Northwood's JV Girls performed yet another sweep in the event with Kaitlyn Kong (2:17.75), Ainsley Zapata (2:21.22) and Kacy Kesler (2:22.20).  The 200 Free sweep continued on the JV Boys side, Rocky Gao (2:01.04), Sean Doan (2:02.69), and Justin Chung (2:04.53).  Lady T-Wolves Carolyn Nguyen led by about two body lengths turning a 58.74 after the first 100, then found the adrenaline throwing down a very impressive 2:01.79 for the win.  Portola's Gabi Taylor touched second in 2:03.65, while Corina Lee closed out third in 2:03.95.  The Timberwolves Varsity Boys freestyle speed is looking deep as expected with David Xue (1:47.24), Nolan Chomin (1:48.79) and Christopher Pukszta (1:49.43) locking down a triple win for Northwood.  

100 IM

Northwood's Open Girls swept the 100 IM providing some momentum with Sophia Smith (1:17.28),Kylie Kenyon (1:19.96), and Lilly Zhao (1:22.97).  Open Boys action saw a trifecta with Charles Yang (1:04.08), Nathaniel Irwan (1:08.50), and Xuchao Li (1:09.88) hitting the wall in the 100 IM.  

200 IM

JV Girls Lauren Nguyen (2:38.87), Brynna Hsia (2:42.30), and Sobyn Chung (2:43.36) turned in the top-3 fastest times in the 200 IM.  In the JV Boys, Kevin Hong had the fastest time of 2:11.73 by a couple body lengths over teammate Alex Overbaugh (2:17.80) for the 1-2.  Portola's Ethan Trieu pulled into third with 2:22.00.  Lady T-Wolves senior Amanda Hsieh got out to an early lead and continued to build, so that she was virtually alone over the second half of the race winning in 2:11.94.  Portola's Kai Wong was next in line with 2:22.17, while freshman Helena Zhou rounded out the top three touching in 2:24.78.  Right in the thick of the battle senior Emiliano Olague finished with the fastest time in the 200 IM posting up a 2:02.68.  Portola's Bryce Nishikawa pulled in for second (2:05.23), while Zachary Waddell delivered a strong third in 2:06.11.

50 Free

The Open Girls showed real depth with sweeping the top three with Shin Park (29.68), Daniella Ela (30.18), and Grace Schweizer (30.63).  Northwood provided a triple with three juniors in the Open Boys led by Matthew O'Neill putting up a 24.83, Dylan Green adding a second n 25.55, and Niko Honda rounding third in 25.97.  JV Girls posted another triple in the 50 Free with Sarah Hsu (29.16), Joyce Kim (29.20), and Ariel Lee (29.46).   JV Boys went out hard putting up a big triple win with Northwood's Nicholas Miceli (24.21), Ben Chen (24.38), and Austin Kenyon (25.40).  Varsity Lady T-Wolf Lauren Kim added a title showing with 26.15, while Malak Hassouna clock second in 26.23.  Portola's Haley Truong rounded third (26.57).  The Varsity Boys 50 Free saw the sophomore Colman Sun hit the wall for first in a time of 22.92.  Portola's Ben Kim (23.37) and Belal Ibrahim (23.52) went 2-3.

50 Fly

Northwood Open Girls freshman came out on top in the 50 Fly.  Shin Park (33.05), and Daniella Ela (34.30) delivered a strong showing for Northwood.  Jacob Crossman charted a time of 27.89 for a title win in the Open Boys 50 Fly.  Andy Kim claimed second in 28.87, while Portola's Joseph Asami rounded third (34.68).

100 Fly

JV Girls Ainsley Zapata (1:10.28), Kacy Kesler (1:15.99), and Caitlin Novak (1:17.57) raced to a triple finish in the 100 Fly.  Northwood's Gautam Chaudhry (1:01.44), Spencer Sellwood (1:02.38), and Eric Zhu (1:08.35) highlighted the JV Boys blasting a triple win. That followed with a title win on the Varsity Girls side from Amanda Hsieh touching in at 59.46.  Corina Lee cruised to a 1:04.45 taking second, while Portola's Avery Ngo finished third (1:07.23).  Portola's Justin Pai took the top spot in the 100 Fly going 54.61. Touching just behind him was Youssef Elseifi (55.38), and Enoch Lai picking up third place in 57.49.

100 Free

Northwood's Open Girls blasted a commanding sweep in the 100 Free event with Sophia Smith finishing well ahead in 1:06.70.  Second went to Grace Schweizer in 1:09.60, the third fastest swim was locked down by Lauren Thorpe with 1:10.23.  In the Open Boys race, Northwood put in the top three with Niko Honda (57.61), Dylan Green holding on to second (58.16), and Charles Shobe touching third (59.49).  On the JV Girls side, Kaitlyn Kong (1:03.45), Emilie Harper (1:05.62), and Ariel Lee (1:06.16) closed out the top three spots in the 100 Free.  The JV Boys went lights out showing real depth with three finishing in the top three in this race with Sean Doan (53.79) taking victory, Danny Kim in for second (53.82), and Leo Giessman following third in 54.12.  The Varsity Girls was a tight race throughout, with Lauren Kim putting in a strong 57.48 for first.  Portola's Haley Truong took second in 57.55, while Fiona Fan (57.66) was third.  Timberwolves junior Felix Zhu ended the evening on a high note as he blew out the Varsity Boys 100 Free in 48.83.  Zhu produced the only sub-24 second turn in 23.78, which extended his lead to two body lengths over Jeremy Mah (50.43).  Third place went to Christopher Pukszta who check in at 50.80.

500 Free

JV Girls Charlotte Waddell concluded her individuals with a title win for the Timberwolves in 6:17.24.  Junior Molly Mcllrath continued her excellent meet for the Northwood JV Girls placing second with 6:34.99.  Mcllrath was followed by Whitney Maynard who posted a 6:37.79 for third.  It was a positive end to the meet for Varsity Boys Kevin Hong (5:16.65) and Rocky Gao (5:41.87), who not only placed 2-3 for Northwood, but both produced two top-3 individual swims.  While division scores really widen for Northwood at this point Lady T-Wolves Malak Hassouna still provided the Varsity Girls a title win with 5:34.93.  Victoria Nguyen put in a second going 5:44.67, while Summer Sim rounded third (5:55.68).  Varsity junior Felix Zhu wasted no time in this race, getting out very quick over the field at the 200 in 1:54.75, and finishing up at 4:49.14.  Zachary Waddell picked up a second place finish of 4:50.48, while Portola's Ethan Ho rounded third in 4:52.61.

50 Back

Northwood's Open Girls shaped up with some speed and depth sweeping the 50 Back. They lead a field that includes Lilly Zhao (37.79), Jana Hammoud (43.68), and Mya Deguzman (44.66).  On the Open Boys side, Matthew O'Neill (29.18) took first in the event.  Charles Yang touched second in 30.08, while his teammate Nathaniel Irwan finished third in 31.42.

100 Back

The first place individual title win in the JV Girls came from Northwood's Joyce Kim who swam a 1:15.54.  Junior Jasroop Miglani was the second quickest competitor in 1:18.58, while Portola's Faith Kim pulled in third (1:22.14).    Freshman Danny Kim was dominant in the JV Boys 100 Back, crushing the field in 1:01.34.  The battle for second went to Daivik Patel (1:03.36), while teammate Justin Chung rounded third in 1:06.12.  The Lady T-Wolves featured great depth with Avery Liu (1:02.47) roaring by Portola's Kai Wong (1:02.87).  Senior Fiona Fan registered thirdin 1:04.59.  After coming away with a big win in the 200 Free, Northwood's David Xue doubled in the Varsity 100 Back winning by .96 hundredths in 56.04. Jeremy Mah (57.00) took second, while Nolan Chomin rounded third in 57.34.

50 Breast

Northwood's Kylie Kenyon didn't disappoint as she produced a title win for the Open Girls.   Kenyon put up a 37.79 to lead the group.  Sophomore Anita Lamai touched the wall finishing second with a personal best time of 40.31.

100 Breast

Northwood's JV Girls Sobyn Chung jumped out to an early lead and never relented at the 50 turn (38.00), then stretched out for the touch winning in 1:20.67.  Freshman Lauren Nguyen touched second in 1:21.51, while Tarah Esfahani took third in 1:22.25.  The afternoon saw another triple placement from Northwood JV Boys in the 100 Breast that included Eric Zhu (1:07.08), Grant Lai (1:09.47), and Leo Giessman (1:10.32). The Varsity Girls 100 Breast finally came down to Portola's Gabi Taylor taking the event in 1:12.05.  Freshman Carolyn Nguyen closed out second (1:14.77), while Portola's Tiffany Lee rounded third (1:15.64).  Senior Conner Budka saw his first top win of the day touching to the wall in 1:00.97.  Portola's Justin Pai pulled in for second (1:03.45), while Ben Liu registered third in 1:03.68.

Relays
Open Girls 200 Medley -  1st place  2:22.99  Lilly Zhao (36.76), Kylie Kenyon (38.74), Shin Park (33.78), Grace Schweizer (33.71)
                                    -  2nd place  2:31.35  Jana Hammoud (41,70), Anita Lamai (40.58), Daniella Ela (33.50), Mya Deguzman (35.57)
Open Boys 200 Medley -  1st place  1:56.08  Matthew O'Neill (29.77), Charles Shobe (33.24), Jacob Crossman (27.67), Niko Honda (25.40)
                                      -  2nd place  1:59.20  Charles Yang (30.43), Xuchao Li (33.94), Andy Kim (29.41), Aaron Kim (25.42)
                                      -  3rd place  2:06.68  Andrew Harper (32.29), Curtis Sung (35.14), Mengshu Zhang (31.73), Neil Chaudhry (27.52)
JV Girls 200 Medley -  1st place  2:10.31  Charlotte Waddell (35.14), Lauren Nguyen (35.99), Ainsley Zapata (31.06) Kaitlyn Kong (28.12)
                                -  2nd place  2:18.49  Jasroop Miglani (36.29), Sobyn Chung (37.24), Caitlin Novak (37.24), Tara Esfahani (29.82)
JV Boys 200 Medley -  1st place  1:50.28  Danny Kim (28.46), Eric Zhu (31.53), Gautam Chaudhry (26.51), Nicholas Miceli (23.78)
                                 -  2nd place  1:54.98  Daivik Patel (29.69), Orlando Olague (33.65), Alec Overbaugh (26.52), Austin Kenyon (25.12)
Varsity Girls 200 Medley  -  2nd place  1:54.00  Avery Liu (29.34), Corina Lee (32.28), Carolyn Nguyen (27.33), Amanda Hsieh (25.05)
                                        -  3rd place  2:05.95  Malak Hassouna (30.11), Sarah Buting (35.58), Fiona Fan (28.55), Marley King (31.71)
Varsity Boys 200 Medley -  1st place  1:41.96  Nick Huynh (27.05), Emiliano Olague (27.94), Youssef Elseifi (24.34), Colman Sun (22.63)
                                        -  2nd place  1:42.71  Jeremy Mah (26.39), Conner Budka (28.08), Enoch Lai (24.70), Adrian Fontao (23.54)
Open Girls 200 Free -  1st place  2:02.86  Shin Park (29.67), Grace Schweizer (31.72), Mia Tomovic Savinov (31.39), Sophia Smith (30.08)